How to choose an ESP

Excerpted from ConvUrgency.com's Smart Email Marketing Guide

So the next question that I get very regularly is: which ESP should I use? Unfortunately I can't just tell you which to choose, as there's simply no 'one size fits all' solution. I've worked with a number of vendors, and depending on the number of emails you're planning on sending, you'll have to chose one that's right for you, and that your business can afford.

For smaller businesses, you may want to take a look at GetResponse or Constant Contact. Both have monthly packages that are affordable for small businesses, and offer free trials. They offer sufficiently sophisticated functionality considering the low cost. One of the greatest benefits to small businesses – who most likely don't have their own HTML coder – is that pre-made templates are provided, you just put in your content.

For mid-sized businesses, the only ESP I have experience with is Dotfusion Express. This is actually an ASP based on ExactTargets's mailing APIs. It allows for a little more functionality and send volume than the smaller tools, but is still relatively simple to use.

For large businesses, who have a dedicated email marketing professional and a large email send volume, you'll need something a little more robust. I've had experience with ExactTarget and SilverPop. Though they both have their competitive advantages, my personal favorite is SilverPop. I find the application to be very reliable, and the company itself is just great to work with.

Anyhow, as I said, I can't tell you which vendor to choose. However, I can recommend that you find at least three vendors that suit your mail volume needs. Then before you even demo the software, go through this quick checklist:

• How many clients does the vendor have? What's their average list size? Are there any references or case studies?
• Will this vendor be proactive and *reject* clients because they are not right for the service (sending spam)?
• What are their customer service hours, and promised response time?
• Will they integrate with your CRM and Web analytics?
• Do they support international languages (if applicable)?
• Do they provide "extra" services such as creative (stock photos, templates), RSS feeds, surveys, etc?
• Does the service include authentication via SPF and DKIM? (I'll explain later)
• Can I use our company email address, or do I have to use an email address from their domain?
• How detailed is the reporting?
• Can I maintain multiple lists with different fields?

I'm sure there are other questions you can come up with that fit your unique needs, but make sure you define them well and get them answered before making your choice.

Now you have an idea of how to choose your email application, and you have a list of subscribers. So, now let's discuss how you'll use the two – by examining the components that make up effective emails.

Excerpted from ConvUrgency.com's Smart Email Marketing Guide